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Lidl: A taste of the future?

While German-born discounter Aldi continues a successful expansion in the United States, its homeland rival Lidl is planning to make a similar voyage.

Klaus Gehrig, CEO of Lidl parent Schwarz Group, told the German newspaper Heilbronner Stimme this spring that plans for a U.S. expansion were “in full swing” but that stores wouldn’t likely arrive stateside until 2018.

As reported previously in SN, Lidl has established a U.S. office in Arlington, Va., headed by executives from its division in Ireland. The company had around $98 billion in sales in fiscal 2013. Analysts expect that when Lidl does arrive, it would stick to markets where Aldi had proven the limited-assortment, private-brand focused, model could work.

SN recently had the occasion to drop in on a Lidl store in its home country. The store near the Bavarian city of Augsburg, neighbored a rival Aldi in an adjacent shopping center.